Category Archives: Equipment

The worst day of the whole trip was Wednesday. Jon and Z headed out, so that Z could work the next day and not be trapped in the rainy mountains. Jon was going to get a new shelter in town, since the one we’d picked up the day before refused to stay upright during the assembly process. And as soon as they left around noon, the sky opened up and proceeded to dump rain for nearly 8hrs. You try occupying a toddler in a tent for that long. I think I napped more than she did that day. Read the rest of this entry →

Something about being in the woods builds up an appetite. Living closer to the land, building a fire for heat because the sun hasn’t crested the mountains and it gets cold at night. Hiking, chasing a toddler around camp, dodging sudden downpours. First thing in the morning and at the end of a long day, nothing sounds better than a hot meal. Except that trying to prep on a picnic table and do anything substantial on a camp stove can be laughable if conditions aren’t utterly perfect. So the challenge to myself, for spending a week in the mountains eating nothing but granola bars, oatmeal, cereal, sandwiches and sausages roasted over the fire sounded atrocious, was to figure out how to strike that balance. Read the rest of this entry →

Everybody loves stuff, especially gadgets that make our lives easier. Chefs are no different, except that our toys can get pretty expensive. The monetary value of my knives alone could probably buy a cheap used car. Hell, my chef knife was $300 before sale tag. My honing steel was nearly a hundred. But these are the tools of my trade, the two things I use every single day. Do you need to drop that kind of cash? Probably not, but let’s go over the things you should probably have in your kitchen. Read the rest of this entry →